Iraq Expert: Yazidi Crisis 'Warrants International Attention'

A U.S. mission to rescue a group of Iraqis threatened by ISIS will be a difficult and tricky task, according to David Tafuri, the former Rule of Law Coordinator for Iraq at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The Yazidis, who practice a combination of Shia and Sufi Islam, have been targeted by ISIS as it attempts to kill Christians and purify Iraq of non-Islamic influence.

"It’s a very serious situation, it warrants international attention. Thousands and thousands of Yazidis will die if there isn't a plan to evacuate them and get them to a safe area,'' Tafuri told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV in an interview from Erbil, Iraq.

"The U.S. apparently is considering a rescue effort that was very much a welcomed development here. It will not be without obstacles, of course.

"ISIS is in and around these areas where the Yazidis are hiding and certainly the U.S. is going to have to be careful with respect to the potential for ISIS to engage and try to interfere with any rescue effort.''

But Tafuri, a partner at the international law firm of Patton Boggs, believes the U.S. will persevere.

"The U.S. is very much capable of doing this successfully. We've done much more difficult missions,'' he said.

A U.S. mission to rescue a group of Iraqis threatened by ISIS will be a difficult and tricky task, according to David Tafuri, the former Rule of Law Coordinator for Iraq at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.